Don't know if this pre-indictment AP story was ever posted here, but in case anyone's interested... --david cantwell >-------------------------------------------------------- >Singer charged in killing has hit highs, lows >By Chip Brown >Associated Press >Published: Sept. 8, 1998 >SABINAL -- At the pinnacle of country singer Johnny Rodriguez's success, he picked guitars with Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson in Texas football coach Darrell Royal's living room. > >He made several appearances on "Hee-Haw," the Nashville Network and Barbara Mandrell's variety show. The wedding reception for the first of his four marriages was at the Nashville, Tenn., mansion of Tom T. Hall. And he enjoyed renting a white stretch limousine when traveling back to his hometown of Sabinal, a poor farming community about 60 miles west of San Antonio. > >It was his way of making sure everyone in town knew that he had come a long way from his days of picking cotton to help his parents put food on the table for 10 children. > >Rodriguez, 46, had the first of several Top 10 hits with 1972's "Pass Me By (If You're Only Passing Through)." He later married and divorced Willie Nelson's daughter, Lana. Today, he's making the wrong kind of headlines. > >Rodriguez has been charged with murdering Israel "Basco" Borrego, 26, a regular guest at parties at a house Rodriguez built for his mother some 20 years ago. Friends and neighbors said Rodriguez, who lives 75 miles to the east in San Marcos with his fourth wife, Debbie, frequently traveled on weekends to Sabinal to host the gatherings. > >Rodriguez's attorney, Alan Brown of San Antonio, said the country singer walked across the street from a friend's house to make sure his mother's house was locked up about 4 a.m. on Aug. 29. With the lights out in his mother's small, dilapidated, one-story home, Rodriguez mistook Borrego for an intruder who made an aggressive move toward him, according to Brown. > >Rodriguez grabbed a .357-Magnum revolver that he kept near the front door of his mother's house and shot Borrego once in the abdomen. Rodriguez then called 911 and reported the incident, Brown said. > >Borrego was pronounced dead at a Uvalde hospital later that day. > >Sabinal police and the district attorney investigating the case, Tony Hackebeil, aren't saying much about the events surrounding Borrego's death or about an alleged shooting involving Rodriguez three weeks ago in which no one was hurt. > >"There was an incident reported, and an officer was dispatched by a 911 call," Hackebeil said. "Although I've never seen a report, that incident was ended as a pending investigation. We may never know what happened, but we are trying to find out." > >Grand jurors are expected to consider whether Rodriguez should be indicted on a murder charge as early as Sept. 24, Hackebeil said. > >Borrego family members said they find the singer's story hard to believe because the two men had been socializing so much over the past weeks. And they fear that the grand jury will not charge Rodriguez because of his fame and friendship with several law enforcement officers. > >"Johnny sang and was a big star and may have money, but that doesn't make him any better than us," said Borrego's wife, Anita. "He shot and killed the man I love, and the father of my two children. As far as I'm concerned, he's worse than us." > >Friends have several photographs showing Rodriguez and Borrego at one of the backyard parties. One picture shows the men arm in arm, with Rodriguez holding a beer in his hand. > >"Basco used to stay there with Johnny day in and day out," said Borrego's cousin, Freddy Aviles, 24. "They would drink together, and my cousin used to cook for him. > >"And now Johnny's trying to pretend that Basco was a perpetrator. My cousin was no perpetrator. Johnny Rodriguez used to tell my cousin he could come over to the house any time he wanted, if Johnny was there or not." > >Brown said Rodriguez and his sister had asked Borrego to stop entering the home uninvited. > >Aviles maintains that even if it were true that Borrego was asked to stay out of the house, "What was Johnny doing carrying a weapon in a small town like this? Here, everyone knows everyone. If there is a problem, we settle it with our fists." > >Aside from being Rodriguez's hometown, Sabinal is best known for a wild hog-catching festival every summer. It's a community of 1,600 people, where one of Rodriguez's brothers is a former mayor and another is a current City Council member. Two of his sisters are school teachers. > >"This has been a complete shock to this little town," said Enrique Gonzales, 48, who went to high school with Rodriguez and also knew Borrego. > >"No one expected this." > >Sabinal is a long way from Nashville, where Rodriguez was once toasted as an up-and-coming star of country music. Born to Mexican American parents, Rodriguez has said he ran with gangs and was arrested four times by the time he was 18, mostly for underage drinking. > >After a minor scrape with the law, Rodriguez was facing a jail sentence. Former Texas Ranger Joaquin Jackson, who knew Rodriguez was a good singer, helped him secure a job and avoid spending time behind bars. > >After leaving Texas, Rodriguez moved to Nashville with $14 and his guitar. With the help of country star Tom T. Hall, he landed a recording contract and released "Pass Me By." The 10 singles that followed topped the charts. > >But addiction to drugs and alcohol sent his career into a nosedive. > >"They almost killed me and about destroyed my career," he told The Associated Press in 1987. > >"They hurt my throat and my voice. I didn't relate to the audience or look people in the eye. It took away my sensitivity." > >Rodriguez, whose three divorces and bouts with substance abuse have left his finances diminished, managed to post bond only after it was reduced from $250,000 to $50,000. > >Hackebeil said he agreed to ask for a bond reduction because of the length of time it may take for a grand jury to consider an indictment and because Rodriguez has ties to the area and "couldn't go anywhere without being seen."
